Michael Jasso was appointed Assistant City Manager for the City of Sacramento in April 2018 after a nationwide competitive recruitment. He leads Sacramento’s efforts to develop and implement an inclusive and equitable economic development strategy. He manages the departments of Community Development, Convention and Cultural Services, as well as directly oversees the Office of Innovation and Economic Development within the City Manager’s Office (CMO). He serves as a member of City Manager’s executive leadership team. He leads the City’s main efforts to interface with the private sector in the attraction and development of inclusive and equitable economic opportunities in Sacramento.

Prior to coming to Sacramento, he served as the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development for Cook County, IL. He led the work of the Bureau in collaborating with the 7-counties of NE Illinois and the City of Chicago in developing and implementing initiatives to grow the regional economy. He led Cook County’s collaborative efforts with the City of Chicago, such as a Board Member on the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership and the recruitment efforts for Amazon HQ2.

Prior to joining Cook County, Michael served as the Managing Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Housing and Economic Development (DHED, now DPD) for the City of Chicago. He oversaw the efforts of the department focused on business expansion, job creation and fostering city-wide revitalization.

Michael is a native Chicagoan who grew up in the Back of the Yards. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer having served in Yemen working on the restoration of the Old City of Sanaa, a World Heritage site. He holds a BA in Architecture from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin where he was a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Fellow, a nationally competitive fellowship for minority applicants.